When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
Not Noiice (Chalk Circle)
Reviewed by Audra Schroeder, Fri., May 23, 2008
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
Not Noiice (Chalk Circle)Not nice or not noise? When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth's sophomore LP is a tomato-tamato affair. The local sevenpiece beast, featuring members of Awesome Cool Dudes; Oh, Beast!; and the late Tuxedo Killers, subscribes to the power of two – on drums, vocals, and guitar – which informed the hot skate-thrash of 2006 debut LP Snacks. While not entirely tamed, WDRTE has found its core heaviness: the doom bass of opener "Toeing the Line," early 1990s grunt of highlight "Sick Legs," distortion blackout on "Hypnotic Locks," and instrumental tornado "Big Fuck Party." Vocalists George Dishner and Jesse Hodges have elbowed into a rhythmic odd couple of scream-talk, which helps focus the album, though they still wander in gibberish for a few songs. Closer "Finally Grunge" plants the Dinos' tongue in cheek, and though it's not the biggest bang of an ending, Not Noiice is noise's eventual evolution.
